


Koi no Yukon

by JustThatAverageFeeling



Series: Code: Aion [2]
Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative Perspective, Best Friends Are Helpful, Developing Relationship, Even if they can be annoying, F/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 06:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10155857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustThatAverageFeeling/pseuds/JustThatAverageFeeling
Summary: "The sense one can have upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love. Differs from "love at first sight" as it does not imply that the feeling of love exists, only the knowledge that a future love is inevitable." *AU, One-Shot and Spin-Off to Parallels*Or, Ulrich and Yumi's relationship growing throughout the Parallels series after getting together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this isn't exactly Activation (I removed that fic because some of its future plot interferes with what I planned for Disparate) nor is it the promised sequel to Parallels. I wrote this because I've been going back through a lot of episodes lately and with the whole Ulrich X Yumi pairing going down the drain in the original series because of the characters reasons, I was thinking What if they did get together at some point instead of never really getting together at the end of the series... Then I remembered something. Parallels had that. So this is a spin-off of Parallels with special moments between the two and how it differs from the non-pairing canon because of them getting together. So if you've hopped on the ride and not read Parallels, I suggest you go read that to understand how they got together and the chapter that contains it is Chapter Two.
> 
> Credit goes to betterthanenglish.com the website for the definition I used in the summary. 
> 
> This series uses Parallels format, except both Ulrich and Yumi will tell the story each chapter together from their own perspectives. I may update this again later on during the Disparate story, but I won't guarantee it. I hope you enjoy this one-shot spin-off and thank you all for reading.

**1\. Exploration**

"Activated towers, Lyoko battles, danger," Ulrich crossed his arms, a smirk on his face, "Aren't you guys starting to get sick of all this?" It was another night filled with fighting XANA and getting Aelita to a tower to get her out of Lyoko. Missing sleep oh so dearly because of the classes the next morning, Ulrich silently wished that the XANA attack happened much earlier that day.

Without needing much time to process his words, both Odd and Jeremie replied with a sound, "Nope!"

Stifling his yawn, the brunette added, "Well sometimes I really wish we were done with XANA."

Odd bounced on his heels a bit next to the brunette, a smile on his face, "You must be forgetting something very important or you just weren't listening, Ulrich. Aelita's carrying a miserable virus that links her to our old friend XANA. Bye bye XANA means bye bye Aelita, does that ring a bell?" The blonde waved his hand in front of the chocolate eyed boy's face. Pushing the hand away, Ulrich gave him a pointed look which quickly had the cat-boy backing down, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Sitting in his seat as he took off his glasses, Jeremie sighed, "And I don't know how to create an anti-virus. I mean, not just yet." He took his sleeve and began wiping at them as the elevator doors closed after dropping off one raven and one pinkette.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Aelita spoke up, "Why don't we explore the new mysterious sector we discovered?"

The chair's gears clanked as Jeremie spun it to face Aelita. He put his glasses on and voiced his worries, "Sector Five? But we don't know what's in it!"

"Sure we do!" Odd started to count off his fingers, grin on his face, "There are monsters, ultra-dangerous traps, and the Scyphozoa that's after Aelita's memories."

"You're right," She acknowledged, "But what if there's something else there, like information about XANA? We have to go back."

The svelte teen hummed, "Yeah, you may be right with that one. There could be some nifty information in that place. I guess the pros are better than the cons."

Ulrich nodded, "It _is_ a good idea. All three of us can go."

Frowning, Aelita added, "You mean all four of us." Motioning to herself, she continued on, "I want to be part of this expedition."

"No way!" Jeremie protested, "With the Scyphozoa lingering around there, I don't think you should go in. We don't know what that place is capable of other than the first time that we've seen it. Whatever's in there may end up hurting us more than helping us in the end."

"What if there's a tower to deactivate? Think about it, I have to be there!"

Hopping into the conversation, Odd flashed an impish grin towards the other blonde, "Come on Einstein, with her three bodyguards with her nothing bad can happen to her! There'll be nothing to worry about..." He then paused, placing a hand underneath his chin, "Though, we do have to think about everything when we get there. Before we head in there, I think you and the Princess should take in everything that comes with the sector and us," Shrugging, he smiled again, "Better to be safe than sorry."

"Being careful and going in at the same time," Jeremie groaned, "That's like a neutral vote, Odd!"

Yumi shook her head, "What I think he's trying to say is that we should go in, but just be careful."

"And you guys say I need a translator..." Muttering to himself, the 'Einstein' relented, "But okay. Aelita and I will go over some calculations before then and take everything into account. Tomorrow night we'll explore." Leaving both the pinkette and the genius in the supercomputer room, the three warriors entered the elevator and Odd pushed the up button.

Odd pulled out his phone, a frown on his face, "Past ten already? We missed dinner again! And tonight was spaghetti and meatballs too!"

"Oh my gosh, that's so late!" Yumi gasped, "My parents must be going bananas!" Once the elevator opened, she quickly fled, "See ya tomorrow!"

Ulrich watched her go, a sigh leaving him, "For a relationship... I feel like there isn't much to it than being better friends."

Odd tutted, "Oh Ulrich dear, your relationship just started about a week ago. Everything isn't going to magically change, you should know that," Both the blonde and brunette began their walk to the ropes, "Take it from a guy who's been in a couple of relationships before, other than the physical aspect of kissing and hugging there's more to it. Like uh... being there for one in their time of need, trying to improve yourself from them. I won't go on because the rest of it is hard to explain in words. But I guess there is some "steps" you can go through with her."

"Like what?"

Wincing, Odd looked away, "Uh... meeting parents! That could be a good start, I guess. Since you really can't introduce her to yours, you could meet up with hers!" He raised his finger, "Though, u-uh that's a bit too early. Plus, you have to look for the signs that it's time to meet them. But anyways, a good step would be to show her that you're always there for her."

Giving one last look at his best friend as he began to climb the rope, he muttered, "You don't know what to say to me, do you?"

"It's hard to give advice when you've been together for only a week! Don't rush it man!"

Snorting, Ulrich nodded, "Don't worry about it! I won't!"

* * *

Sneaking into her house was a complete pain. It was either going up the cherry blossom tree (but with the branches flimsy at this time it wasn't an option) or going through the front door. Taking the second option, Yumi ducked under her window as she crept slowly to the door. Reaching the door, she pried it open slowly and peeked in. The house was dark and it looked like there was no parents in sight.

Silently cheering, she entered and closed the door... and the lights turned on. Wincing, she looked up the stairs to see both her mom and dad, "Yumi? We need to talk." Ducking her head, she stalked to the kitchen and knew her parents were following her every move. Her mom took a bowl of ramen out the fridge and set it down in front of her and she stared at it with a sick feeling churning in her stomach, knowing that she missed dinner once again, "You come home late every single night. Tonight is the last straw. It's past ten o'clock and you didn't even bother to telephone us!"

She played with her food, holding back a wince at the accusations. They were all true but she had more important things to focus on rather than her family, even though she didn't want to admit it. The household these days was filled with an off mood and as much as she hated the XANA attacks she didn't want to be home around it.

"You haven't eaten anything either!" Akiko accused though no malice resided in her tone, only worry rested in it. Yumi, even with her stomach flimsy because of the mess, began to shovel food down her throat, "What's going on, dear? If you have a problem you know you can tell us."

Speaking with her mouth full, Yumi attempted to answer, "No, really, everything's fine! I was studying math at Mytaina's house, I told you already!"

"Mytaina LeCoue?" Takeho questioned. Yumi nodded at her dad and he hummed for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued on, "That's strange, when I called her she was studying... by herself."

Unable to contain her wince, Yumi tried to play it off as her mother addressed the situation, "You're lying to us, Yumi. That's not like you. What's the matter with you? I worry about you, sweetheart." Placing her hand on top of hers, "Tell me what's bothering you."

"I promise you that everything's just fine," That wasn't a lie. Everything _was_ fine in a way with Lyoko and the whole virus situation inside Aelita. The gang trusted that Jeremie would figure it out soon so they didn't mind it much anymore, "You saw my last report card. It was great, so why worry about me?" Her parents sighed and a pool of guilt formed in her stomach. She couldn't tell them about Lyoko or else in the end it would be shut down and Aelita would be gone. She couldn't deal with the atmosphere much longer so she set her empty bowl down and sprang from her position, "I'm going to go to sleep. It is late after all, I'll see you two tomorrow." Fleeing from the kitchen, she raced upstairs to her room where hopefully she could sleep this whole night away.

* * *

Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. Walking with both her parents on either side of her, Yumi ducked her head and clutched tightly at her bag, "It's nice of you to come with me. But I'm big enough to go to school. Really, I am."

"You are, huh?" Takeho stared at her, "If you were then you would stop lying to us and tell us why you come home so late all the time."

"You're going to watch me twenty-four hours a day?" Skeptical, she didn't look up at them. She knew they had their reasons and she had her own, "Is that it? Am I in prison or something?"

Her mother answered worriedly, "We're trying to understand you and to protect you too." Reaching the gates of the private school Yumi thought she'd never be this glad to see it. Though, her joy was eradicated as soon as she saw Sissi.

Apparently, Sissi saw her as well as she smirked, "Oh wow, the entire Ishiyama family."

"I bet you'll be picking me up as well, huh?" Yumi asked, even though she knew the answer.

"I'll be waiting here for you at five o'clock. I advise you not to be late."

"Oh, isn't that adorable?" Sissi sweetly said, even though her voice was thick with venom. After the whole Hermitage fiasco, she has been more and more verbally abusive to the geisha and downright seeking vengeance on the group for "getting Ulrich to date her". Yumi knew how to be the better woman in the situation and has yet to rise to any of her jabs since that day. She knew she had to wait out the principal's daughter in order for her to calm down with the whole news. She stormed through the gates, heading to the vending machine where she knew one of her friend's would be there.

Of course, Odd was there ordering a drink from the machine. Then there was Jeremie, who was speaking with the cat-boy. "Hey you two." She greeted weakly, walking to the machine herself.

"You look blue, what's the matter?" Jeremie asked.

"My parents," She groaned, "They're getting on my case about being out past curfew lately. And they're not going to ease up on me either." She pulled out a coin, pushing it into the machine and selected her choice, "Oh, what a mess." She groaned, "The worse thing is that I hate lying to them"

Odd, sipping on his drink, commented, "Tell them something you haven't told them. Something convincing that they would relate too, in a way." He shrugged, "Have you told them about your new relationship?"

"Well, no." Yumi admitted, "I feel that its weird just to straight up tell them that I'm in a relationship now and that I'm growing up. I don't know how they would react and they may not like it either."

Jeremie raised a finger, "Parents should be accepting to a child growing up in their own ways. They may be happy for you on that sort of thing or they may be upset with you because of it. You can never really tell with that sort of thing but you shouldn't shy away from it. Avoiding it now would be bad if they find out by themselves later in a compromising situation."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped.

The genius winced, "Well, u-uh-"

"It means that they may catch you hugging or kissing," Odd bluntly explained. Yumi felt heat travel to her cheeks at the thought of _kissing_ her boyfriend. Sure they were in a relationship but she wasn't so sure that she was ready to show that display of affection to everyone around both her and Ulrich, "Well people have their own readiness for certain things. No need to rush it."

Scowling, she muttered under her breath, "Dork." She took her drink and began enjoying the taste of hot chocolate for the little time she had. Ulrich waltzed over to the little group, hands in his pockets. Both shared a look just for a second before Yumi went back to focusing on her drink.

"How about you?" Odd clapped his hands, facing the brunette, "Did you break the news to your parents that you're dating?"

Raising a hand, Ulrich shook his head, "I rather tell them face to face on the next holiday we have. Break it to them while they're more focused on a party for the company rather than their returning child."

"See?" Yumi waved to Ulrich, "If he didn't do it then I shouldn't have to either."

Odd shook his head, "You two lovebirds are clueless when it comes to relationships."

Ulrich crossed his arms, staring at the amber eyed boy, "We haven't seen you do any better."

"Two words, Eva Skinner. Back in my old school we were a power couple," He then clapped his hands, a fond smile on his face, "She had this cute accent because she was from the United States, her blonde hair and chestnut brown eyes-"

Waving a hand in front of his face, Yumi frowned, "Okay okay we get it, you had a relationship outside of Kadic. How long did it last?"

"Hmm..." Counting off his fingers suddenly, Odd then threw up eight of them, "Eight months. My best record dealing with how long I've been in a relationship." Glancing at her new boyfriend, Yumi chased away the thoughts of how long they would be together. That wasn't something she wanted to think about and if she was right, Ulrich wouldn't want to think about it either.

"You have to win back their trust in you. So, I think you should stay away from Lyoko for awhile," Jeremie suggested, thankfully changing the topic. He looked downright lost in the earlier conversation so it was nice to change it back to the original one at hand.

Immediately skeptical, the raven spun on her heel to face the genius, "Huh? What about exploring Sector Five? Isn't the mission tonight?"

"Don't worry," Ulrich dismissed with a shake of his head, "Jeremie will give you a play by play update."

"Promise," 'Einstein' agreed, "Though I should get this out of the way. Last night Aelita and I drew up some hypothesis' about Sector Five. So you two," He motioned to Ulrich and Odd, "Have to be careful. If Sector Five isn't like the other sectors, some things can go wrong. Like for example, the devirtualization process. Your mission as soon as you enter in is to locate a tower so Aelita can check what is different and what is similar about Sector Five to the other sectors."

"Basically we're on a hunt!" Odd chirped.

Jeremie nodded, "Yes, I guess you _can_ call it that."

**_Ring!_ **

Sighing, Odd pouted, "Come on guys, I know you're all _dying_ to get to Mrs. Hertz's class. Off we go." The geisha frowned at her drink, trying to figure out if she could finish it in time.

"Did you study for the marine biology test?" Only Jeremie could sound that excited for an easy 'A'.

Beaming, the cat-boy responded with a cheeky smile on his face, "Of course I did. Just listen, fish are remarkably adapted to water. Once more, they can swim." Suddenly howling with laughter, it looked like Odd was making it a joke.

With Jeremie's added on, "You are so lame." Ulrich began to laugh as well. Unable to hold it herself, Yumi chortled along with her boyfriend. After laughing at Odd's joke, the four split up and headed off to class.

* * *

Before she distracted herself with her family, Yumi dialed up a familiar number. She had to be quiet though, Yumi couldn't allow herself to be caught talking with someone, "Are you there, Jeremie?"

_"Yumi?"_

"Is everything okay?"

The connection must have been bad, for Jeremie repeated her name again, _"Yumi?"_

"Is everything okay?" She responded, dragging her words out slowly to make sure he heard.

_"Yeah, they're in the transporter. All's well."_

"Well, tell them I'll be thinking about them..." Yumi couldn't think of much more to say. There wasn't anything else to talk about between them and recalling Ulrich's words, she hung up the phone. If anything, before she goes to bed tonight she can dial up Jeremie and hear how it went. After all, the adventure in Sector Five shouldn't take that long now should it?

* * *

Her phone had rung while she was playing Go with her father. She had to make it quick and luckily, by saying pass and by half a point she had won the game. She quickly said goodnight to both of them and soon found herself using the cheery blossom tree outside of her house as a means to escape from her room. Of _course_ Odd was right with one thing. Sometimes whenever he thought of the little things, they became the _big_ problem,"Ugh, you miserable cat-boy why do you have to be right when it comes to Lyoko?!" She complained in between her pants, finding the forest near the school.

Odd and Ulrich both hadn't been sent back to the scanners after being devirtualized and it was a nightmare. For both parts of losing her friend and losing the one she loved. Then there was Aelita, which if the Scyphozoa finds her in there then she'd be gone as well. Yumi refused to lose her friends as she forced her skateboard to go faster in the sewers, "Why does this happen on a night that I need to stay home too?"

Running her fingers through her hair, she whipped it back as she reached her destination and began climbing the ladder. Without another complaint, she ran into the factory and quickly used the rope to reach the main floor. Slamming the button in the elevator once she entered it, she called out, "Jeremie! I'm in the elevator!" She knew that the genius had to have heard her so she immediately took off to the the scanner room.

"You have to get to Aelita! She's in Sector Five! The Scyphozoa's there!"

"Right!" Yumi affirmed, "Did you get Odd and Ulrich back yet?!" The hum from the elevator was the only comfort left for her, though the ride felt a bit too long than it should have been.

Jeremie, which she could now hear across from her as the elevator passed the room, sighed, "I can only give you a scenario where everything works out, or I cannot. Your choice."

Wanting to have that option, she replied, "I rather have that then none."

"I got about a one to a million chance of finding the right code to bring them back." Wincing, Yumi took it as it was. It's better to have something rather than nothing, she supposed. The elevator door slid open as she took a deep breath, storming into the nearest scanner. It was the left one, as she stood in place.

"I'm ready, Jeremie!" She called.

"Right," The scanner doors closed in front of her. It was a familiar gust of wind that started to build up, spreading the cold breeze in what should have been a warm room. She let her eyes close as the process began, _"Transfer: Yumi. Scanner: Yumi,"_ Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, she felt her body being picked up by the growing winds. Greeting the sense of emptiness that the scanners always provided, the last words washed over, _"Virtualization."_

Her vision saw the many grey rock formations of the Mountain Sector, _"And here's your vehicle. Quick, head to the edge of the sector!"_

"Understood!" She hopped onto the Overwing, enjoying the sense of flight it provided as she took off. The scenery passed around her in a semi-fast manner and without much delay, she was making her way to the edge.

_ "Be careful, Yumi! XANA's going to try to do everything he can to prevent you from entering the transporter!" _

She cried out as a laser took away her vehicle. Sliding against the gravel of the mountains, she glared at the monsters she particularly hated out of all of XANA's monsters, the Kankrelats. They shot at her as she took off in a sprint to the very end. Yumi couldn't let her friends down and with two gone and the last one stuck "in the belly of the beast" it was all up to her, "Hurry up and enter the code, Jeremie!" A blue and white orb with the eye of XANA on it appeared just after a moment, hovering in place. She flipped towards it, hearing the whizzing of lasers behind her. Landing in place, she turned and watched as the lasers head straight towards her until...

...her vision was taken away in a shimmer of white light. Held stationary for what felt like an eternity, Yumi stayed quiet. She attempted to move her fingers, to stretch, to do _anything_ but was halted by the hold of the transporter. After a few minutes, she was dropped into a blue and white room. Recalling it as the room her, Odd and Ulrich were once in to find Aelita before, she knew she had arrived at her destination.

 _"Yumi? Can you hear me?"_ Concern radiated from the blonde's tone. After all, he wouldn't be able to tell if she made it to the transporter or got devirtualized in that moment.

"Yes," She confirmed, "I'm in the Arena," The room continued to spin, even after she was dropped off earlier, "The transporter got to me just in time. Horrible Kankrelat." The Arena stopped its spinning, opening an exit to the big blue room. She took off, following the white exit to head off to the Core Zone.

Jeremie's voice took on its usual authoritative tone, _"Listen up now! You have to get to the Corridor and trigger a mechanism before the countdown runs out, okay?"_

She assured the genius, "I heard you!"

 _"If I'm right about how the Core Zone functions, my plan should work!"_ Running was all she could do at that moment. Taking the twists and turns of the "labyrinth" that was the Core Zone, she used her fans to make little marks on the walls. After she made a few mistakes and saw her fan marks (and a giant chunk cut into the wall, courtesy of her missing boyfriend) she began taking a new direction altogether, _"You only have two minutes left, Yumi!"_

"Already!?" She shouted to the sky. Receiving no answer (for Jeremie had to tend to Aelita), the geisha stumbled upon a room filled with lasers. Noticing a weird knob thing at the very end, guarded by the lasers she concluded that this was the room. She flipped around, trying to be considerate of her body as she dodged the lasers. Her hand exploded with electricity once it touched one of the lasers and she winced.

 _"Down to ten points, Yumi! There's no time to mess this up!"_ She began crawling underneath, then climbed through the spaces. After regaining her agility, she began to flip through the lasers, _"Don't drag your feet!"_ She landed outside of the lasers, a smirk on her face. If the boys could only see her now, going through so much to save their butts. _"You have ten seconds!"_ Sprinting to the knobby button that she identified as the key, Yumi reached her hand out and slammed her hand into the button. The doors near her parted apart, revealing a new exit to the room.

"It works Jeremie, the room's changed!" She ran down the new exit, hoping that wherever she was going that Aelita would be there.

 _"The whole Zone is being reconfigured! We did it!"_ His voice then cut off, most likely talking with Aelita. The program that allowed communication was always buggy, she noticed with a frown as she continued along. Most of the time Jeremie's voice would broadcast to all of them but it looks like this Sector was limiting it to communication in certain places.

Yumi suddenly had to stop her run, staring out at a place that looked empty for the most part. Then, something sped by at high speeds in front of her, "Huh?!" It looped once again, "It... it looks like some kind of elevator!"

_"You know what we do with elevators?"_

Grinning, the geisha crouched. She prepared herself to jump, then took off right as it came by again. Her fingers ran against the metal of the elevator as she tried to find a way to clutch it but it looks like she didn't need it, "We ride them!" The elevator slowed down, clicked onto some new "road" and traveled on again. Travelling in an new direction, Yumi stayed along for the ride with glee.

She would have enjoyed it a bit longer until a familiar call of, "Yumi!" Reached her ears.

Jeremie's voice spoke to her again, _"Try to grab Aelita as you go by, Yumi!"_ The elevator changed direction again and it was smooth sailing to reach out her hand and grab Aelita's own. She tugged the pinkette onto the traveling machine and watched it go by the blue sphere once again.

"Where are you taking me?" The pink elf asked.

"I have no idea," The raven answered, shrugging. Their new transportation looped around the blue orb three more times, slowing down its halt each time it made a lap until it finally came to a stop on a new platform. Surprised, the two took off down the slim platform and into a hallway that opened once they arrived close to the door. Exiting from the small hallway, they reached a big room that was... beautiful, to say the least. White numbers ran across the blue walls and there was so much space between them and the numbers. There was a platform that held them, even though it was small to say the least. A different shade of blue popped up in front of the two, "There's an interface!" Yumi noticed, seeing the statistics flying around the small screen.

Aelita stepped forward, "I can get in!" She began typing away on the interface, "Incredible!"

_"What?"_

"It's unbelievable! The interface gives access to XANA's own data! Sector Five is where XANA _lives_!" Thrown for a loop as much as Jeremie probably was, Yumi bit her lip. The information was shocking but it didn't phase her. What did was that Odd and Ulrich were lost in the home of the virus, where it could soon mess with it and hurt them. Oh _why_ did Sector Five have to do this to them?

She placed a hand on her hip, trying to erase the thought from her mind, "XANA's not a very good housekeeper!" Out in the far away walls, weird dents began to form. Out of them... flew weird, manta-like creatures, "There are some weird things hanging around this place."

Sounding happy, the pinkette babbled along, "I got access to all sorts of data! It's crazy!"

_"Look for the specific devirtualization code for Sector Five, if you find it we can rescue Odd and Ulrich!"_

The manta monsters screeched, flapping their wings. The trio headed straights towards them and Yumi pulled out her fans, "Jeremie, I'm going to need the Overwing."

 _"Uh-oh, bad news! When Aelita's working on the interface I can't do anything from my end!"_ His tone apologetic, she heard Jeremie sigh, _"Just try to hold out until she's done."_

Aelita continued to slide data across the interface, close some programs and open up others until- "I think I found it!" She exclaimed as she pressed one more button, "I'm transmitting it to you!"

Jeremie's keys were barely heard in the background as he spoke up again, _"Okay, I'm taking over again now."_

The weird manta creatures flew around them, continuing to screech as they began to draw closer, "Jeremie, my Overwing now!" Yumi sensed that if they drew even closer that they may knock them off and that was a big no-no. In front of where the interface was, the Overwing appeared. The geisha flipped to her vehicle, waiting just a second to let the pinkette hop on. Feeling Aelita's weight on the Overwing, she flew off, "Now, how do we get out of here?"

"There are some tunnels!"

The Mantas spat lasers, forcing Yumi to twist the Overwing to dodge them, "They're closed!"

 _"Let's see... tunnels..."_ Continuing to spin around, Yumi listened as the genius pondered over their predicament, _"What if they correspond to those that open onto the Arena?"_ Biting her lip, the geisha yanked the Overwing away from the wall of coding, _"Yes! It works!"_ Jeremie suddenly shouted, gleeful of something he did.

Spotting that one of the tunnels was free of coding, she grinned, "Nice one, Einstein!" The Mantas continued to follow her tail as she drove the Overwing to the tunnel. Thinking about the adventure, Yumi found it to be a nice one even if the circumstances were terrible. The geisha was startled by a Manta flipping in front of them, shooting off its laser right into her. The feeling of nothingness gripped her, only for a second as the blue and white in her vision faded away into black.

* * *

_The room was... off. Like it was roomy, but yet it felt like it was full. Yumi looked over herself, seeing that she was still dressed in her Lyoko form but there was no shades of red, yellow and black on her. "Huh?" She murmured, stepping forward. Color didn't decorate the room, leaving it looking empty and barren like her person. She took another step, placing her hand on what should be a wall, "What is this place?"_

**_Clang!_ **

_Jumping from the sudden noise, she reached into her obi for her weapons, "Huh? My fans, they're gone!" Pulling out nothing, she frowned, "This place is weird... First with no color and now my weapons are gone..."_

_"Yumi?" Someone stepped forward in the empty room. She felt their hand touch hers and she watched as it was lifted by a clothed hand. Surprisingly, she could feel the touch of cloth rubbing against her hand. Wasn't Lyoko supposed to take away the sense of touch?_

_Since there was no color in this room at all, it was hard to identify who. It was like the place they were in was made to be void of color for both the people and the land. Staring at the person for just a moment, she easily identified him, "Ulrich?"_

_"Yeah," The boy was dressed in his samurai outfit, though his sheathe for his katana was missing from his hip, "It's me. This place is pretty weird. I haven't found Odd either but... why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at your parents?"_

_She nodded, "I am but Jeremie called me when you two were devirtualized, you didn't come back. So I had to leave to help save Aelita. They should have the data to bring us back, though it might take a bit before we do get back."_

_Sighing, the samurai rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry for making you worry."_

_"Don't worry about it, I know you'd get worried like me if something happened to me."_

_"Of course," A smile on his face, Ulrich practically beamed at her, "I would do anything for you."_

_"Like I would for you." She clapped her hands together, "Though, I feel like we should do something for us. Since we've been going out, we haven't done anything you could consider "romantic". So when I get out of my parents' watchful eyes, maybe we could go on a date?"_

_"A date?" Flabbergasted, the brunette managed to nod, "O-Of course!" Red blossomed onto his cheeks and from there, the yellow-orange from his outfit began to show. Yumi looked at her person and watched the yellow of her obi and the red of her kimono come back._

_"Looks like we're going back." She noted._

_Smiling, the samurai muttered, "Yeah, see you on the other side Yumi."_

_"You too, Ulrich."_

* * *

"We did it!" Jeremie cried, excitement in his voice. Yumi stumbled out of the scanner, clutching the side of it. Ulrich flew out of the right scanner, a frown on his face and poor Odd was on his knees in his scanner, gasping for air, "Odd! Are you okay!?" 'Einstein' fled to his friend's side, worry on his face, "How do you feel? Say something!"

A grimace made its way onto the svelte teen's face, "Something." Yumi left her scanner, finding herself wandering to Ulrich's side. Both exchanged a look, then they smiled at one another. The cat-boy took another minute before he had the genius help him stand. Aelita rubbed at her knees, like they were tired from the running that she had experienced.

"Let us help," Yumi volunteered, walking to the blonde with a purple splotch. She pried her friend off the genius and let him lean against her, despite their differences in height. Ulrich followed along, walking close to the "Princess" and resting her arm around his shoulder. Jeremie smiled weakly at them as they walked to the elevator and with a quick press of the button, they headed up. Hopefully they would be able to get a good nights sleep after this and then take in the information they received from exploring the new sector.

The door to the first floor of the factory opened... and little Kiwi crawled in with a sniff. The mutt circled around Ulrich's legs, barking frantically. Odd winced, pulling his arm away from Yumi to crouch down to the mutt, "Kiwi? How did you get here-?"

"Yumi?" Her father observed her in the elevator, "What are you doing here?"

Delmas crossed his arms, a stern look on his face, "I believe all of you have some explaining to do." Out of the corner of her eye, Yumi saw Ulrich and Jeremie exchange looks. At that moment, she understood the last-minute plan. Ulrich "ran" forward, quickly being caught by Jim. Odd whistled, Kiwi turning from friendly mutt into a overprotective barking one right at Delmas as he dashed past Yumi's parents to another part of the factory. Yumi stayed behind as the distraction since they were all focused on her in the first place. Aelita ran forward, sprinting to the rope to reach the exit and Jeremie dashed backwards into the elevator. Jim, seeing that Jeremie was going back in abandoned Ulrich in order to enter the elevator as it shut.

Ulrich frowned, strutting up to Yumi, "Well, isn't this awkward." He muttered.

"What is the meaning of this!?" The principal cried, backing away from the territorial mutt, "Della Robbia, get back here!"

"I don't think he will, sir," Yumi slyly noted, knowing what was going to happen. Ignoring the look of shock on her parents faces, she added, "And well, we won't be telling you about this either. Sorry Mom and Dad." The bright, cold light of the return to the past swallowed them all. It reached past them, continuing its path as Yumi let go of the reality she was in now in favor of moving on from it.

* * *

"So then," Blinking, Yumi spotted that she was back in the same position outside of school again. Once again, time "repeats" itself in a loop to allow them to change a few things after XANA's chaos. Always welcomed by them all, she listened to her father drone on, "You still refuse to give us an explanation?"

_"Tell them something you haven't told them. Something convincing that they would relate too, in a way."_

"Alright, I'll tell you," Taking in a deep breath, she let truthful words to her parents, "I'm dating someone."

Her father was suddenly smiling as he put an arm around her mother, "Ah, Yumi. I knew there was a reason. You're growing up even more now these days."

Leaning in, her mother asked, "And will you tell us your boyfriend's name?"

Yumi couldn't help it, she grinned, "I can try to do you one better. I think I can convince him to come over to have dinner with us for a night, so he can introduce himself to you guys." She walked away with a skip in her step, "I'll see you two tonight!" Sticking her tongue out at the principal's daughter on her way, she enjoyed the rage that formed on her face. Even thought she was the better woman in the situation, after what happened last time she couldn't help her rudeness to Sissi.

She walked into the school grounds, seeing both Ulrich and Odd standing by, "Whatever you told them must have satisfied them. What did you tell them?"

Her hair fell into her face, "Well, I told them the truth." A puzzled look found its way onto Ulrich's face. She then added, "And you'll be having dinner with my family tonight."

Ulrich suddenly started to cough and Odd exploded with laughter, "Good luck with that one, good buddy!" Odd smacked him on the back, an impish smile on his face. The brunette scowled at his best friend, red dusting his cheeks for his sudden outburst, "Hey, I'm wishing the best. Make a good impression on your girlfriend's parents, you lovebird." Winking, the blonde took off to the vending machines.

"I guess this is our date?" Once the blonde was gone, Ulrich finally questioned her.

She shook her head, "Nope. It's just... something that came up. Don't worry about it, as long as you behave then everything should be okay."

"Okay," Nodding, Ulrich started off to the campus buildings, "But next time, _please_ give a guy a warning before you spring something like this on me."

Snorting, she laughed quietly, "Alright, fine."


End file.
